The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure. Accordingly, such statements are not intended to constitute an admission of prior art.
Farmers feed hay and similar food materials to grazing livestock. According to a known method, farmers cut hay, permit the cut hay to dry out, and then bale the hay. Modern practices tend to produce either round bales or large “square” bales, bales which require a tractor with hydraulic lifts to move the bales. Round bales are cylindrical in shape and tend to come in four foot bales (four feet in diameter, six feet long,) five foot bales (five feet in diameter, six feet long,) and six foot bales (six feet in diameter, six feet long.) Large “square” bales are rectangular and tend to either be three feet by four feet by eight feet or four feet by four feet by eight feet. The bales are formed by a baler device, typically towed behind a tractor and receiving power from a power take off shaft known in the art. A baler scoops a trail of dried cut hay off of the ground, manipulates the hay within the baler into a desired shape, and then wraps the completed bale in twine to keep the bale in the desired shape. Bales are advantageous because the hay can be kept for long periods without rain or other intrusive materials ruining the hay. A line of bales can be arranged and covered with a tarp for added protection.
Farmers can acquire bales one at a time and provide the bales to the livestock for food. Bales are especially useful in conditions where the animals cannot get to enough grass in a pasture to sustain the animals. The animals will eat the hay so long as the hay is kept off of the ground and not spoiled. However, if a bale is exposed to a herd of animals, the animals would tear the hay bale apart with most of the hay being trampled underfoot and spoiled before being eaten.
Hay racks are known in the art to separate the animals from the hay bale and mitigate the animals' tendency to tear the bale apart. One typical hay rack includes rigid a six to eight foot diameter ring made of bars and panels which is rolled into place and set over a round bale, with openings through which livestock can poke their head. Other hay racks include raised platforms with a ring or box of bars and panels similarly permitting the animals to poke their heads through to reach the hay. Rigid hay hacks tend to waste hay, for example, as the bale gets smaller. The animals pull off slabs of hay from the bale and some of the hay falls down to the ground within the ring or can be easily grabbed and pulled out of the hay rack on onto the ground. Twenty to thirty percent waste on a bale is not uncommon with a rigid rack known in the art.